# rust-cross

Guides Rust cross-compilation across foreign OS and architecture targets. Helps configure static musl builds, cargo-zigbuild, and bare-metal no_std setups.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 513 installs · ★ 267
- Author: mohitmishra786
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/mohitmishra786/low-level-dev-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/rust/rust-cross/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-06-27
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/rust-cross

## What it does

This skill guides your coding agent through cross-compiling Rust projects for target platforms outside your host machine. It covers target management with `rustup`, linker configuration in `.cargo/config.toml`, and targeting specific glibc versions. You get distinct instructions for containerized builds with `cross` alongside direct builds via `cargo-zigbuild`.

Coverage spans common server architectures like ARM64 and x86-64 musl, desktop builds for Windows and macOS, WASM, and embedded targets such as Cortex-M or RISC-V. Running `cross` requires an active Docker daemon. By contrast, `cargo-zigbuild` needs no containers, but requires a local `zig` compiler installation.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add mohitmishra786/low-level-dev-skills --skill rust-cross -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/rust-cross/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/rust-cross/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add mohitmishra786/low-level-dev-skills --skill rust-cross -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/rust-cross/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add mohitmishra786/low-level-dev-skills --skill rust-cross -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/rust-cross/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install mohitmishra786/low-level-dev-skills rust-cross
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/rust-cross/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add mohitmishra786/low-level-dev-skills --skill rust-cross -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/mohitmishra786/low-level-dev-skills --path skills/rust/rust-cross
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/rust-cross/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add mohitmishra786/low-level-dev-skills --skill rust-cross -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/mohitmishra786/low-level-dev-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/rust/rust-cross/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- build static Linux binaries using musl
- cross-compile for ARM64 with cargo-zigbuild without Docker
- set up custom linkers and test runners in .cargo/config.toml
- configure bare-metal no_std builds for Cortex-M and RISC-V chips

## Example prompts
- How do I cross-compile Rust for aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu using cargo-zigbuild?
- Help me set up .cargo/config.toml for static builds on x86_64-unknown-linux-musl.
- How do I configure a no_std Rust project for thumbv7m-none-eabi?

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: 1db7fdc6cf9abee5.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE 1db7fdc6cf9abee5
````text
---
name: rust-cross
description: Rust cross-compilation skill. Use when building Rust binaries for a different target architecture or OS, using cross or cargo-zigbuild for hermetic cross-compilation, configuring .cargo/config.toml for cross targets, or targeting embedded and bare-metal systems. Activates on queries about Rust cross-compilation, rustup targets, cross tool, cargo-zigbuild, aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu, thumbv7m-none-eabi, or building for embedded.
---

# Rust Cross-Compilation

## Purpose

Guide agents through Rust cross-compilation: adding rustup targets, using `cross` for hermetic Docker-based cross-builds, `cargo-zigbuild` for zero-setup cross-compilation, `.cargo/config.toml` configuration, and embedded bare-metal targets.

## Triggers

- "How do I cross-compile Rust for ARM/aarch64?"
- "How do I build a Rust binary for a different OS?"
- "How do I use the cross tool for Rust cross-compilation?"
- "How do I build Rust for embedded (no_std) targets?"
- "How do I use cargo-zigbuild?"
- "My cross-compiled Rust binary won't run on the target"

## Workflow

### 1. Add a rustup target

```bash
# List installed targets
rustup target list --installed

# List all available targets
rustup target list

# Add a target
rustup target add aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu
rustup target add x86_64-unknown-linux-musl   # static Linux
rustup target add wasm32-unknown-unknown       # WASM
rustup target add thumbv7m-none-eabi          # Cortex-M

# Build for target
cargo build --target aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu --release
```

### 2. Common target triples

| Target | Use case |
|--------|----------|
| `x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu` | Linux x86-64 (glibc) |
| `x86_64-unknown-linux-musl` | Linux x86-64 (musl, static) |
| `aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu` | ARM64 Linux (Raspberry Pi 4, AWS Graviton) |
| `aarch64-unknown-linux-musl` | ARM64 Linux static |
| `x86_64-pc-windows-gnu` | Windows x86-64 (MinGW) |
| `x86_64-pc-windows-msvc` | Windows x86-64 (MSVC) |
| `x86_64-apple-darwin` | macOS x86-64 |
| `aarch64-apple-darwin` | macOS Apple Silicon |
| `wasm32-unknown-unknown` | WASM (browser) |
| `wasm32-wasi` | WASM with WASI |
| `thumbv7m-none-eabi` | Cortex-M3 bare metal |
| `thumbv7em-none-eabihf` | Cortex-M4/M7 with FPU |
| `riscv32imac-unknown-none-elf` | RISC-V 32-bit bare metal |

### 3. cross tool (Docker-based, easiest)

`cross` uses pre-built Docker images with the correct cross-toolchain:

```bash
# Install
cargo install cross

# Build (drop-in replacement for cargo)
cross build --target aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu --release
cross test --target aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu

# Cross.toml — project configuration
```

```toml
# Cross.toml
[target.aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu]
image = "ghcr.io/cross-rs/aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu:main"
pre-build = [
    "apt-get update && apt-get install -y libssl-dev:arm64"
]

[build.env]
passthrough = ["PKG_CONFIG_PATH", "OPENSSL_DIR"]
```

### 4. cargo-zigbuild (zero-setup, uses zig cc)
````
END THIRD-PARTY FILE 1db7fdc6cf9abee5

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